World Wide Woozle episode #619

Welcome back rockers.

I've had the whole week off work with dreadful back pain. Until Wednesday I was walking like a 90 year old on a bad day, I was reduced to crawling to the shower on Monday and Tuesday and I haven't made the bed in a week. That's some kind of record! Thankfully it has started to ease off and I am relatively mobile. I'm not sure I'll be back on my bike this year to be honest. The physio and I will be having a serious conversation next week about preventing this from happening again. And I missed out on seeing The Mark of Cain on Wednesday night; not happy Jan.

Last time on the World Wide Woozle I mentioned that I'd read a number of comments bemoaning the lack of new guitar heroes and therefore rock music This, as well as painkillers and far too much time on my hands, has led me on an epic quest. As a result, this episode is all about noisy, sweaty, riff driven rock and roll. I'm not discounting the many great rock bands who have been plying their trade for years and years, but I am making the point that guitar driven rock is not dead.

In 1977 Muddy Waters sang, "the blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll", and nothing could be more true. Since the earliest days of the genre, blues has been an important part of the rock scene. Bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Black Crowes and Led Zeppelin clearly drank from that particular cup. Fast forward today and Melbourne rockers Palace of The King channel a similar spirit. They have a new album that was released yesterday and also released a slew of singles in anticipation. This is the latest one and I think the groove is right on the money. Listen (and buy) their stuff right here.

Palace of the King - A Run For Your Money - https://youtu.be/BQksahIuWyY

Legs Electric, from Western Australia, have been playing full steam ahead rock music for a while now and have scored support gigs with the likes of Ace Frehley, Uriah Heep, The Superjesus, Wolfmother and KISS. There's some great pro shot footage of their KISS support slot here. Clearly influenced by classic and hard rock, Legs Electric sound fresh and energetic. Vocally I'm reminded of Stonefield and that's not a bad thing at all. And whilst the music is the most important thing, it is so cool to see a band that dresses like the rock and roll stars they are.

Legs Electric - Dance Like A Wolf - https://youtu.be/Sm0WZGcGpLM

Towards the end of 2019 we lived in a rental in Lyneham. One weekend there was a big craft beer festival in the car park that was over our back fence. There were bands playing too. That was my introduction to Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers.The band has a recently released long player that was featured as album of the week on Triple J. If you like energetic indie style rock and roll then this is for you. Buy their stuff here.

Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers - I Used To Be Fun - https://youtu.be/cKf9LTXdPJM

Thundermother are a hard rock band from Stockholm, Sweden. They've supported Scorpions across North America and played at the Wacken Festival three times. Thundermother's music is along the same lines as bands such as Airbourne I guess. It's fists in the air, good time hard rock.

Thundermother -  I Left My License In The Future - https://youtu.be/dakOQMNa_2Q

A while ago I listened to a podcast featuring Joel Green who drums for Witchskull and of course was in  Australia's greatest ever metal band, Armoured Angel, back in the day. Listening to him speak about his influences got me enthused again about some old school metal. Bands like Exodus, King Diamond and Unleashed. I know that this kind of music is very much an acquired taste and isn't going to be for everyone. It's not something you throw on casually for unsuspecting dinner guests. Another band that Armoured Angel were influenced by was the Swiss outfit, Celtic Frost. Upon listening to some of their tracks I found out that founder, guitarist and singer, Tom Warrior had a new project that was playing music he recorded prior to Celtic Frost. It's a live album and the quality of the playing and sound production is phenomenal. If you know the Hellhammer tunes or the later Celtic Frost stuff then this is a must listen.

Triumph of Death - Massacra (live) - https://youtu.be/9hPJkx4gqJU

Måneskin, from Italy, mix up all sorts of rock and roll styles and the result is high energy music and performances. The live footage I've seen shows a band not afraid to either have a good time or of wearing their influences on their collective sleeves. 

Måneskin - Supermodel - https://youtu.be/Nh9sJhF2r8Y 

For those of you out there perhaps looking for a bonafide rock guitar hero then look no further. Nita Strauss came to prominence playing with The Iron Maidens before being selected to play in Alice Cooper's band. Along the way she's developed some amazing guitar chops. created a social media persona that is super positive, had Ibanez make her a signature model guitar and of course released some jaw dropping solo work. 

Nita Strauss (feat Chris Motionless) - Digital Bullets - https://youtu.be/yZWUrI8yaIg

Lastly, two great players in one band. I've been raving on about them for quite a while now and I don't intend to stop. Jason Isbell and Sadler Vaden have been making music over the course of a few albums now and they are top shelf guitar slingers in my opinion. If you're a guitar tragic then you'll enjoy Jason's interviews about his extensive guitar rig and all his instruments. He's a tragic too! 

Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - Super 8 (live 2022) - https://youtu.be/voweHmL7ons

How's that? Rock ain't dead....

The Woozle

"Gonna take you dancing mama

Show you off over town
You can feel the boogie
If you listen you can hear the sound..."

The Southern River Band, Stan Qualen, 2023. (must be something good going on in Western Australia...)